Lake McClure is an artificial lake in western Mariposa County, California, about 40 miles (64 km) east of Modesto. It is formed by the New Exchequer Dam impounding the Merced River, a tributary of the San Joaquin River.
The lake was first created by the original Exchequer Dam, built between 1924 and 1926, a concrete gravity arch dam. Exchequer Reservoir's original capacity was 281,000 acre·ft (347,000,000 m3). In 1926 its name was changed to Lake McClure to honor Wilbur Fiske McClure, Head Engineers of the State of California, who helped develop and lay out the John Muir Trail in the Sierra Mountains of California. McClure and his brother, John Clarendon McClure, also founded the town of Hacienda Heights, California.
New Exchequer Dam was built in 1967 to increase the reservoir's capacity to 1,032,000 acre·ft (1.273×109 m3). It is a rock-fill dam with a reinforced concrete face, owned by the local Merced Irrigation District, which supplies northern Merced County farms with water for irrigation through its 750 mile (1200 km) network of canals. At the base of the dam is a hydroelectric plant with a capacity of 94.5 MW.
Besides storing water for irrigation, the lake also provides opportunities for recreation. Only a small amount of water from the lake is used for drinking water and human contact is allowed. Activities available include boating, water skiing, fishing and camping. There is a full service marina at the lake as well. Hang gliding is popular at Lake McClure and the site is reportedly soarable 320 days of the year.
McSwain Dam, about 6 miles (9.7 km) downstream from New Exchequer Dam, was built at the same time and creates Lake McSwain. The lake is a regulating reservoir for releases from Lake McClure. It has a capacity of 9,700 acre feet (12,000,000 m3), about one percent of the capacity of Lake McClure. There is a hydroelectric plant at the dam with a capacity of 9 MW.
Merced irrigation district is exploring raising the level of the Exchequer Dam with movable gates will be placed on the emergency spillway. In addition to the safety aspects the raising of this dam would allow the first-ever encroachment onto a wild and scenic designated River.
Famous quotes containing the word lake:
“His education lay like a film of white oil on the black lake of his barbarian consciousness. For this reason, the things he said were hardly interesting at all. Only what he was.”
—D.H. (David Herbert)